AT THE MATCH

With yesterday's weather being cold and wet I decided to wrap up warmly today for the football.  I looked a bit like  Nanook of The North when I left the house -  big padded down jacket, thermals. scarf and gloves.  However it was hot on the bus so I was far too warm.  Even at the match I was too warm until around 4pm when the temperature dropped.

The match was a disaster as far as Newcastle United were concerned. 

Newcastle 1   Bournemouth 3

An extract from the match report on nufc.com ...............

" Steve McClaren's position as Newcastle United manager now looks to be totally untenable, following a clear demonstration that he no longer has the support of the players or fans.

There are no excuses for him now. He's had the money, the preparation, the mid-season break, the disappointments, the unlucky defeats and yet he is still unable to get anything like a competent performance out of his side.

This was beyond a must-win game. A draw would have been an unmitigated disaster and yet United played it as if it was a pre-season stroll or a mid-table end of season affair.

Bournemouth were deservedly ahead in the first half, albeit via a Steven Taylor own goal and then they doubled their lead to no-one's great surprise midway through the second.

Even an Ayoze Perez goal failed to muster any sort of credible comeback attempt and the final nail in the coffin came in added time when Daniels slotted home the Cherries' third.

Once more, the opposition seemed to be superior in every department and despite a committed display from our captain, Jonjo Shelvey, most of his colleagues just didn't seem remotely interested."

There was a lot of booing at the end of the match - Newcastle fans are very disgruntled at the moment - and relegation is a very real prospect.  In a recent poll 7,000  fans responded and  96% of them voted that McClaren should be sacked ( I voted - and was one of the 96% )

My blip shot shows the captain Jonjo Shelvey before kick off with some of young mascots.  Maybe the youngsters should have been in the team - they might have shown a bit more commitment than the real players.

After the match I did some shopping in Waitrose and Tesco.  I'm sure a good proportion of fans headed for the nearest pub to drown their sorrows.

Steps today - 10,493